Benjamin Franklin's Anti-Slavery Petitions to Congress

National Archives ^

[CondoleezzaProtege]

During his life, Franklin had many careers... In his later years he became vocal as an abolitionist and in 1787 began to serve as President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. The Society was originally formed in Philadelphia, as The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage...

As a young man he owned slaves, and he carried advertisements for the sale of slaves in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. At the same time, however, he published numerous Quaker pamphlets against slavery and condemned the practice of slavery in his private correspondence. It was after the ratification of the United States Constitution that he became an outspoken opponent of slavery.

In 1789 he wrote and published several essays supporting the abolition of slavery and his last public act was to send to Congress a petition on behalf of the Society asking for the abolition of slavery and an end to the slave trade. The petition, signed on February 3, 1790, asked the first Congress, then meeting in New York City, to "devise means for removing the Inconsistency from the Character of the American People," and to "promote mercy and justice toward this distressed Race."

The petition was introduced to the House on February 12 and to the Senate on February 15, 1790. It was immediately denounced by pro-slavery congressmen and sparked a heated debate in both the House and the Senate. The Senate took no action on the petition, and the House referred it to a select committee for further consideration. The committee reported that the Constitution restrains Congress from prohibiting the importation or emancipation of slaves until 1808 and then tabled the petition. On April 17, 1790, just two months later, Franklin died in Philadelphia at the age of 84.

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: abolition; benfranklin; benjaminfranklin; foundingfathers; franklin; godsgravesglyphs; slavery; theframers; therevolution

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Relevant too is Ben Franklin's 1783 meeting with famed British abolitionist William Wilberforce in Paris, while minister to France. His growing social circle of abolitionist preachers and activists paralleled his personal evolution from secularism to faith. From being pro-slavery to anti-slavery.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

[MikelTackNailer]

Franklin was bonded into Indentured Servitude when he was a boy, a demeaning experience that took him years to fully shake off. Luckily for us he did.

[SunkenCiv]

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Franklin was bonded into Indentured Servitude when he was a boy

I did not know that! Thank you for sharing!

[CondoleezzaProtege]

I know it's not legible from this vantage, but here are the prints of Franklin's petition:

[Albion Wilde]

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